Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Don't Play that Song
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Sep 2018
🖨️ Print Article
this is what we do overseas
Don't Play that Song....

Don’t Sing That Song ‘bout

Bombs bursting in air,

Rocket’s red glare

Gave proof through the bus

40 children were dead.

Don’t Sing That Song

that “supports the troops”

Kicking in doors at 4AM;

Urinating on bodies

of Afghan fighters;

Defecating on

the Koran; Cutting

off ears and fingers—

Sporting them like

macabre trophies…

Don’t Sing That Song of

twilight’s last gleaming;

and perilous flight of

Hellfire Missiles from

Predator Drones—

white boy toys draining

treasure and blood:

Bankrupting us morally

Don’t Sing That Song—

‘bout a warfare state

with money for missiles,

Leaden water; collapsing

bridges; broken down

trains; Tent Cities and

citizens curled up on

cardboard—chanting,

“Spare change—

you can believe in?”

Don’t Sing That Song—

that slave masterpiece—

‘bout broad stripes on

brown backs; bright stars

in scrambled brains—Home

of the brave—gunning

down Black men in the streets

Don’t Sing That Song

Giving comfort to

War House Hitler-lovers

on Capitalist Hill,

White Supreme Court, slave

master statues, and military bases

named for confederate traitors

Don’t Sing That Song

Marvin prosecuted

for its soullessness—

Rene Marie face-

lifted with Every Voice—

as Nobel Drone Ranger

rammed her under the

bus with his Peace Prize—

Don’t Sing That Song

Jimi’s guitar tried

for war crimes at Woodstock!

Our poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Beyond Cop Cities
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Beyond Cop Cities: Dismantling State and Corporate-Funded Armies and Prisons
    23 Aug 2024
    Joy James and Kalonji Changa join us to talk about their new book, Cop Cities: Dismantling State and Corporate-Funded Armies and Prisons, which examines militarized policing illustrated by the…
  • Bruce Dixon
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Democrats Complicit in Israel’s Crimes
    23 Aug 2024
    We revisit this piece from the late Bruce Dixon, BAR Managing Editor and co-founder, where he explained that there is no difference between the Democrats and Republicans on the issue of Palestine and…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    KHive Snitches, Right Wing Liberals, and Palestine
    21 Aug 2024
    The allegation that only Trump threatens democracy is a useful ruse for the Democratic Party. They continue their support for genocide and ethnic cleansing and fiercely attack anyone who dares to…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    From Pan Africanism to Afropessimism: Palestine and the Degeneration of Black Politics
    21 Aug 2024
    For decades, most Black political commentary has expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people. Recently, a new phenomenon has appeared, particularly on social media platforms, which accuses all…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: Apologies to All the People in Lebanon, June Jordan, 1982
    21 Aug 2024
    June Jordan’s painful apology for US complicity in zionist terrorism in Lebanon, and against the Palestinian people.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us